Zero Hour #2: Future Shock

Three figures stood and stared at a screen in a small white room.

"It's almost done." figure #1 said.

"Perhaps you were right." figure #2 said to the first one. "This could be the end of everything."

"Well if it is, we can't go down without a fight." figure #3 said.

"What does it look like is being done?" figure #2 replied. "I for one feel it's too dangerous for us to remain here. Especially together."

"What can we do?" figure #3 asked. "I want to do something."

"For now, stay hidden until the time seems ripe for us to jump into the fray." figure #1 answered. "Bid your time. Staying hidden is our best chance right now."

"Does HE even NEED us at this point?" figure #2 asked. "How many has he taken o-"

"You KNOW the answer to that!" figure #1 hissed. "Enough. You two get going. It's entirely too dangerous for us to be together for this long."

Figure #2 nodded and put his hands on his belt. A moment later he was gone.

Figure #3 looked at his elder and hesitated.

"Do you really think this is the end?" he asked.

The older figure seemed to consider the question for a moment. Then smiled a sad smile.

"What I think is immaterial." he reponed. "I'm a bit of a pessimist at times. However, I do hold out the hope that something could... change the odds back to our favor. Now get going... you have to leave."

"I will... as should you... but why?" he asked. "What do you know that we don't?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it." figure #1 replied. "Just stay hidden... and be ready."

"When will I know?" figure #3 asked.

"Oh, trust me. You'll know." came the reply.

The younger figure nodded and touched a part of his arm. Then he was gone.

The older figure turned back to the screen and continued to watch. Unlike his two companions, he made no motion to leave.

Six minutes later, he felt, rather than heard, a new presence in the room. He didn't turn around, but grinned.

"Hello Extant." he said.

"Hmmm. I'm almost surprised to find you here. I would have expected you to run." Extant remarked, walking foward towards the figure and the view screen. "You must have seen me coming."

"Oh, I did." the figure said still grinning.

"Ah. So you stayed to confront me? Is that it?" Extant asked wryly. "Maybe talk to me about the error of my ways... how this isn't how I should be using my power... my knowledge. How we really were meant to allow things to be as they are... and not take control and make it the way we think it SHOULD be?"

"Oh, I would certainly say those things if I thought it would do any good." the figure replied. "But why waste the breath? We both know you won't listen. You aren't like me... like us... anymore."

"Hard to believe I ever was." Extant said.

"Yes. Hard to believe."

Extant walked a little closer. "What are you hiding?"

"Hiding? What could I hope to hide from you?" the figure asked. "You have become near omniscient... have you not?"

"Now you're just mocking me." Extant said, not without amusment in his voice. "You..." He stopped and seemed to hesitaite.

"Mocking you? Wouldn't do me any good either." the figure said. "I would however like to try and understand just what drove you to this. Why you broke away from... the pack so to speak."

"You're trying to distract me." Extant said. "You weren't alone were you? You stayed behind and were covering their chronal trails so I couldn't follow."

"Hmmm. Interesting theory." the figure said. "That would mean I would be knowingly sacrificing myself... wouldn't it?"

Extant shook his head. "What the hell is it with you all that you think it's noble to just throw away your life? It's that sort of thinking that almost destroyed me. You are so incredibly wrong!"

"Well. Fifty Million Elvis fans can't be wrong." the figure said, totally amused. "I'd say you might be the anomoly here my friend."

"You know it's going to end and you know that despite it all, you'll be a part of it... against your will of course." Extant said.

"Will I?" the figure asked. "I don't think so."

"You won't have a choice." Extant replied, coming closer. "You know what they say... what kills you.. makes ME stronger."

"Did you ever ask yourself if you were the first?" the figure questioned.

Extant hesitated. "What?" he repleid, clearly surprised.

"You haven't... have you?" the figure asked, surprised himself. "Interesting. It would have been the first question that I would have aksed myself in your position."

"Of course I'm the first." Extant hissed. "No other would have..."

"You have no idea." the figure said. "You don't even know what made you this way. Oh... you THINK you know... but you don't. I suppose it couldn't be avoided. I mean... there's always ONE bad apple in each barrell... isn't there?"

"Enough of this." Extant snarled. He reached out. "Time for you to join the rest of the Hunters."

"Oh I will." the Old Rip Hunter smiled. "The ones that went out fighting."

Extant felt a slight pop as his reaching hand penitrated the invisible field the older Hunter had enveloped himself in. He went to withdraw his hand, but it was too late. The explosion ripped the little white room apart. Extant was blown into the air.

He came crashing to the ground and was still for a few seconds.

Extant lifted his head, smoke rising from his body, and sat up.

"Fool." he said.

If anyone had been there though, they would have heard the doubt in his voice.

"Holy Moley!" The Earth S Captain Marvel exclaimed. "What happened to them?"

"WHO?" the new Green Lantern shouted. "What the heck is go-"

A second later he was gone.

Wonder Woman reappeared... only now she was a redhead. She looked badly beaten.

"... end of the line." she whispered. She looked up and saw the group. A gasp escaped her lips and a second later she was gone.

Martian Manhunter turned to Rip Hunter, who was pulling off the front of the Justice League computer and glared at him.

"You are the only one how seems to have any inkling of what is going on here Mr. Hunter, I suggest you stop what you are doing and help us formulate a plan of attack." he said, approaching.

"What I need is to get thi-" Rip began.

"NYET!" The Russian Superman exclaimed. He reached forward and grabbed Rip by the front of his jumpsuit and picked him up.

"T... this i...isn't go...going to help..." Rip managed to gasp.

"Stop!" J'onn demanded. "Whatever is happening here we will not counter it without a plan."

"We need to attack the head of the problem, which is finding this 'Extant', as you call him." Owlman and Batman said at the extact same time. They looked at each other and frowned.

"W... wh... which is what I... I'm t..trying to d... do..." Rip gasped.

"Please put him down." Captian Marvel said, coming towards them. "Let him finish what he's doing."

The Russian Superman gazed in the Mightest Mortals direction. "I am not convinced he knows what he is doing."

"Well, unless YOU know how to find this Extant, he is our best chance." Captain Marvel argued. "I'll ask politely again to please let him go. Just understand, because I'm asking nicely does not mean I couldn't just MAKE you do so."

The Russian strong man and the Big Red Cheese stared at each other for a moment. Their eyes locked.

The Russian Superman smiled, nodded slightly and opened his fist. Rip fell to the ground.

"Perhaps you are correct my young friend." he said as Captain Marvel helped Rip up.

Before anyone could reply, Martian Manhunter disappeared from the room. In his place was a tall red skinned figure with a gold star like object on his forehead.

"...Kl'gg rck limiur v'on kluuk." the figure said, looking surprised.

The Flash whirled on Rip and pointed to the computer. "Get moving and get us a location!" he hissed.

Rip frowned and pushed past the Flash. He kneeled back at the computer and finished unscrewing the front panel. He then pulled out a device from his sachel and began to splice wires from it into the hub on the JL computer.

The Flash looked around the room. Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, J'onn, Hawkgirl and Aquaman were gone. In their places were various "versions" of them. Batman and he were the only regular Justice Leaguers left there.

Almost on cue, The Atom bounded into the JL HQ.

"You guys! The weirdest thing happned to m-" he stopped, looking at the group gathered in the HQ.

"What the heck?" he said. "Flash, what is going on here?"

Barry Allen moved to the Atom's side to explain. A minute later, Rip Hunter stood up and punched a few keystokes at the computer.

"What is it you are doing?" The Russian Superman asked.

"The Justice League computer monitors the earth for problems that the League can react to." Rip explained as he worked. "However, since the equipment is so advanced, it actually is able to record particular chronal waves that permiate throughout the atmosphere. Normally that isn't something that would be overtly useful, but as I said before... Earth-One is a central point of the Multiverse... a nexus... a hub if you will... so it's more attuned to pick up particular chronal energy waves that linger longer than normally."

Most of the room looked at each other with confused glances.

Batman folded his arms and frowned.

"But how do you expect to be able to seperate the various chronal alpha-patterns?' he asked.

"And how would you even be able to know which ones lead back to Extant?" Owlman interjected.

"What the heck are they talking about?"a young woman who looked like Firestorm asked a figure who looked very much like Aquaman, only with a hook instead of a left hand.

"I haven't the slightest." the Aquaman responded.

"I've come across Extant before, and I have a record of his own personal Chronal strain." Rip explained. "This device I added to your computer will be able to search out and find a match. Once I find that match I can trace it back to it's point of origin. Extant has been here. He returned to his own little home base at some point. Eventually we'll be able to follow it back to where he is."

"And when we do?" Owlman asked.

"That's where you all come in." Rip replied.

"I'm not exactly a team player." Owlman told him.

"Tough." Rip responded. "Consider yourself drafted. Welcome to the Cosmic Justice League... for better or worse."

"Listen, you all need to prepare to move." Rip Hunter called out from under the instrument panel of the Justice League Computer. "Once I have a confirmed lock things will start to get frantic."

"We're going to need some hard intel on what we're facing." Batman spoke. "None of this vague postering either. Facts only."

Rip peeked out from under the computer and raised an eyebrow.

"Extant can control aspects of time flow. To what extent I do not know. He has a strong energy source that give him an ability to slide through time and to emit a series of plasma blasts that pack quite a wallop." Rip explained. "He also has shown some super strength, speed and flight abilities, although I suspect they are not natural and are actually the by-product of an H-Dial he managed to get his hands on. Oh, and he has an entire army of Super-Villlains he's collected from the Multi-verse. How's that for facts?"

Batman frowned. "How MANY super-villains?" he asked dryly.

"Thirty? Forty? a Hundred? I have no idea." Rip answered, his head back under the panel.

"So in other words, we're flying blind." Owlman hissed.

"As is par for the course it seems. Welcome to Team Hunter." a voice piped up.

The group turned to see the forms of Booster Gold and Blue Beetle appear.

"Gold." Batman said.

"Hiya Bats." Booster smiled.

Batman frowned... somehow deeper than before. Booster went slightly pale.

"Yeah... nice to see you too." Booster sighed. "Anyone know where the Time Muck-Up is, or he out getting his watch repaired?"

"What are you on a break?" Rip's voice came from under the panel.

Booster smacked his forehead.

"Rip, we're... done." Beetle told him.

Rip appeared quickly. "Really? You got it all?"

"Well most of it. There was the one planet that was gone when we got there, but overall we have everything else... plus we picked up a spare on Earth 7." Booster expalined.

"Why Earth 7?" Rip asked, getting up.

"It was the closet in chronial wave alpha patterns to the Earth that... was gone." Blue Beetle explained.

Rip looked up with a flash of concern... then glanced at his watch.

"Logical theorizing you two, good job." Rip said. "Ok... we have a lot to do and not a hell of a large window to do it in."

Booster looked at Beetle and grinned. "Praise from Rip Hunter. Never thought I'd see the day."

"Can it Gold." Rip hissed. "You have everything in the timelab?"

"Yes." Beetle replied.

Rip checked his watch again and nodded. He looked up at Batman.

"I have the computer calabrated to read Extant's Chronal strain and trace it back to where ever he went." Rip explained. "This is the main control remote. It works on the same basis as a Nuclear Waste reading device. I take it you know how to operate one?"

"Of course." Batman said.

"I figured." Rip nodded. He turned to the remaining figures in the room and raised his voice enough to be heard.

"I know that everything that is happening around us seems too fantastic to ignore. You want to run out and save the world... or return to the ones you came from... but I assure you... the best way for you to save your homes rests with us stopping Extant." he explained to the group. "People are fading in and out of their plane of existance. Those of you left have managed to build up an amount of immunity that will allow you to keep from blipping out. We need to strike while that immunity still holds you all to one plane of existance."

"Enough talking." Owlman growled. "Let's just do this and get moving."

"We will." Rip agreed.

"And us?" Booster asked.

"I have one more little job for you two." Rip told them. "It's dangerous, but ultimately important."

"Dangerous." Booster shook his head. "What a shock."

""Now listen...." Rip leaned into the two and lowered his voice. "This is what you need to do..."

Extant sat in his montoring room, his chin on a fist, brooding. He had just arrived back and without checking with Chronos on the status of their missions or checking on the thousands of speedsters on the giant treadmill below he sat deep in thought.

He didn't want to admit it to himself, but the 'old-timer' Rip Hunter had gotten to him.

What was it with the various Rip Hunters he had met? What was wrong with them? Didn't they see that time was meant to be controled? For them to just let it run it's own way was chaotic and short-sighted.

Extant shook his head. This was why he had left the Linear Men. This was why he needed to wrest control of everything from the fools that would allow things to run an uncharted course.

Control was needed... and whoever he had to kill and whatever he had to do to exert that control... well... he would.

No one, especially the remaining Rip Hunters and his rag-tag band of heroes would stop him... COULD stop him.

But they would try. Oh yes, they WOULD try.

Extant looked up at the clock on the ceiling. It was a simular one to the "Finite Clock" Rip Hunter had in his Timelab. Both Extant and Hunter would actually have been amused to see they both had one in the exact same place.

Extant seemed to be waiting for something. Forty-two seconds later, that something arrived.

An shockwave in the below deck ripped through the entire complex. Extant stood up and walked towards the door. They had come a little sooner than he expected.

But he HAD expected them. He smiled. The time has come. It was almost over.

******************

The Justice League came pouring out of the portal opened by Rip Hunter. The Russian Superman came out first and, directed by Hunter, flew directly into the middle of the room of surprised villians and slammed into the floor, causing it to crack open and throw everyone to the ground. The Earth S Captain Marvel, The Earth Fifty Jemm and the Earth twelve Firestorm followed and flew into the more powerful members of Extant's rouges. The rest broke into small groups and spread out.

Taken by surprise, the rouges fell back on their heels. The room shook and the clashing of the two sides was brutal. The heroes knew that this might be all of their universes last stand, and the rouges knew that to lose this battle could cost them their lives if Extant had anything to say about it.

Unbeknowst to anyone, down the hall, two figures materialized.

"Wow, sounds like World War Three down there." Booster Gold whispered to Blue Beetle.

Beetle nodded. "With the firepower on both sides, I'm not surprised. Good for us, provides plenty of noise to help cover us. C'mon, the energy levels Rip told us to follow are down here."

The two crept carefully down the hall and into a large arena-like area, Inside was a giantic treadmill.

"My God." Beetle gasped when he saw the thousands of speedsters. "Rip was right."

Booster tossed down the sachel he was carrying and knelt down. He unzipped it and started to take a few items out.

"We have to hurry up." Booster said, tossing an item up to Beetle. "We'll need to-"

"I was wondering when you'd get here." a voice interupted them. Booster froze and looked up at Beetle. Then he stodd and they both turned.

"Extant." Booster said softly.

"Gold. Beetle." Extant reponded wryly. "I have to admit you two have been loads more trouble then I ever could have imagined. When you escaped me on New Genesis it seriously caused me grief. Who would have thought?"

Extant glanced up for a moment.

"And you have a lot of friends with you." he continued. "The attack is mostly a diversion though isn't it? A cover for you to sneak in here and sabotoge my device. You have it all figured out don't you?"

"Maybe." Booster replied. "Or then again, maybe it's actually US who is the diversion."

Extant looked puzzled for a second. He didn't have time for anything else. As he opened his mouth to question Booster's comment, The Flash shot in and placed something on Extant. As soon as it touched him a jolt went through his body powerful enough to drive him to one knee.

Extant fought the pain and looked up.

In front of him, beside Booster, Beetle and the Flash, stood Batman, Owlman, The Atom and Rip Hunter.

"Now Extant," Rip said hefting a huge gun-looking device. "We come to the Zero Hour of this affair."

"So I see." Extant replied, hissing. "Let us have at it then... and to the spoilers, the fate of time itself!"